When Danish director Susanne Bier delivered her acceptance speech at this year’s Golden Globe Awards, she left the audience speechless. Literally. Accepting her award for best foreign-language film from Twilight heartthrob Robert Pattinson, Bier nervously joked that her movie features “people who speak like they have potatoes shoved down their throats.” Dead silence. After several awkward seconds, the director hastily wrapped up her speech.

Four new friends sit around a table at an outdoor café in Helsinki, typing on handheld devices. Shyly, Tracy sends Henna a message asking if she might like to visit him. Avoiding eye contact, Henna types back that she will need to ask her mother. The scene could be that of any group of teenagers, awkward and bashful, more comfortable texting than engaging in face-to-face conversation. The difference is that the typists range from young adults to middle-aged. And all of them are autistic.

Four new friends sit around a table at an outdoor café in Helsinki, typing on handheld devices. Shyly, Tracy sends Henna a message asking if she might like to visit him. Avoiding eye contact, Henna types back that she will need to ask her mother. The scene could be that of any group of teenagers, awkward and bashful, more comfortable texting than engaging in face-to-face conversation. The difference is that the typists range from young adults to middle-aged. And all of them are autistic.

Tom and Gerri are happily married. How you take that statement—with a disinterested shrug or a disbelieving sneer—probably predicts how you’ll react to this utterly ordinary, yet quite extraordinary film.

You would think a movie inspired by the true-ish story of gulag escapees who walked from Siberia to India would be, if nothing else, emotionally exhausting. But 'The Way Back' is a placid, almost pleasant film, so reluctant to offend that it fails to engage.

Tom and Gerri are happily married. How you take that statement—with a disinterested shrug or a disbelieving sneer—probably predicts how you’ll react to this utterly ordinary, yet quite extraordinary film.

You would think a movie inspired by the true-ish story of gulag escapees who walked from Siberia to India would be, if nothing else, emotionally exhausting. But 'The Way Back' is a placid, almost pleasant film, so reluctant to offend that it fails to engage.

Everything is perfect in Annie and Darren’s marriage, except they can’t remember the last time they had sex. Rather than questioning whether their union is in fact as flawless as they think, they conclude that sex with other people will be the key to marital bliss. In a way, they’re right: the destabilizing effect of discussing the proposition, in a joking/not joking way, instantly spices up the relationship. What happens next? You’ll have to see "The Freebie" to find out.

The movie "Howl" opens in black and white with a bespectacled poet adjusting his glasses and preparing to read. In the audience, college kids drink wine from glass jugs and blow cigarette smoke dramatically skyward. The poet begins. “I saw the best minds of my generation destroyed by madness.”

'The Romantics' is a very pretty movie that has no idea how silly it is. As a portrait of a group of Ivy League pals coming together for a wedding straight out of WASP heaven, it could not be more appealing: the clothes, the sets, and even the mist-shrouded landscape are J.Crew-perfect.